


Stunning

by dayhwi



Series: Sea of Rubys and Emeralds [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mermaid Renjun, Slight markhyuck, Strangers to Lovers, mermaid donghyuck, mermaid taeyong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 10:30:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20562827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dayhwi/pseuds/dayhwi
Summary: Jeno just wanted his notes back. Renjun just wanted people to know the definition of privacy.Mermaid AU, where Donghyuck and Renjun are mermen from the north but were forced to relocate due to hunting. The two escaped down to the tropical Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s north shore, where Renjun has a wealthy relative that owned an island there. Both boys had to attend high school on the mainland where they get themselves into crazy situations while trying to hide their true identity.





	Stunning

**Author's Note:**

> To give you an idea of what they look like,  
Renjun: GO era - Emerald green tail, long gold necklace with green crystal hanging from it, has a gold band on his right forearm, with emeralds embedded in it.  
Donghyuck: We Young era - Ruby red tail, multiple gold bracelets adorn his wrists.  
Jeno: We Young era.  
Mark: We Young era.  
Jaemin: We Go Up era.  
Chenle: We Young era.  
Jisung: We Young era.  
Taeyong: Boss era - (minus the eyebrow slit) Ruby red tail - gold band choker with red garnet embedded in the centre, gold band bracelet with red garnet embedded in the centre.  
Kun: Black On Black era - Emerald green tail, no jewelery.

Renjun tugged Donghyuck back by his upper arm, struggling to keep the thrashing merboy away from his brother.

“Taeyong!” The younger screamed, trying to focus all his strength to his fiery-red tail to get him closer to the eldest merboy, yet his mind and emotions were too jumbled to be able to do more than just a weak flick of the heavy appendage.

“Hyuck! Hyuckie listen to me, you need to leave. Both of you. Go! Please go!” Taeyong yelled, his voice was calm but there was no mistaking the terror in his eyes as he gripped onto the thick ropes of the net surrounding him.

“Donghyuck please,” Renjun cried, holding on as tight as he could to the redhead, although it wasn’t enough. The Chinese merboy made a whining noise of panic in the back of his throat when he felt his grip on his friend slipping, Taeyong seemed to notice, as he quickly shushed his younger brother by yelling over the top of him.

“Hey! Hyuck, you can’t stay here, you need to leave!” The elder redhead pleaded, after a couple of seconds his face lit up and his eyes landed on Renjun. “Kun. Go to Kun! Junnie you know how to get there, right?” The raven-haired merboy nodded, he opened his mouth to speak but suddenly the net encasing Taeyong jerked, making the tangled merboy yelp, before starting a steady climb upwards towards the surface, towards the red hunting ship looming overhead. Donghyuck screamed, almost getting himself free of Renjun’s hold on him, he would have been successful if Renjun hadn’t thrown an arm around the younger merboy’s torso and wrenched him backwards.

“Taeyong no! I can’t leave you! I won’t leave you! Not again! Let go of me!” Donghyuck wailed, stretching an arm towards his brother even if he was way out of arms reach now. Renjun gasped when a shadow came over him and his friend, looking up he saw yet another vessel, only this one was green and heading straight for the hunting ship. He was surprised when Taeyong made a sound of delight at the sight of the second ship.

“Donghyuck, don’t worry about me I’ll be fine, I know that ship it’s-” The older redhead’s rambling was cut off by his own scream when the green ship collided full force with the hunting ship, throwing the net sideways and causing the ropes of the netting to tighten around Taeyong’s red tail. The tangled merboy let out a loud sob, scrunching his eyes shut, he was afraid and in pain, but he knew he needed to get his family away. Taeyong took a breath to compose himself, focusing his attention back on the boys. “Trust me, I will be fine. The people on the green ship are good, they’re the ones who saved me the first time, they will help again. That doesn’t mean it’s not safe here though, there are more hunting ships and, if those people know we’re here, then there is no doubt hunters know too and are on their way. Donghyuck I beg you, please go to Kun with Jun. I need to know you’re safe and somewhere familiar to me, so I can find you again, I love you Donghyuck, I love you Renjun, but you have to leave me, I will find you, I promise.” The eldest redhead looked at his younger brother pleadingly, begging Donghyuck to leave with his eyes. Renjun watched his friend’s inner turmoil through his changing facial expressions, he pulled the younger closer in a comforting matter, although still gently inching backwards.

“Taeyong, I love you.” Donghyuck let out a last sob and dropped his arm back to his side, letting the raven-haired merboy drag him slowly.

“I love you too.” Renjun chorused, he took a deep breath to keep his emotions in check, the Green-tailed merboy wanted to scream and cry and thrash about as Donghyuck had done earlier, but his friend needed him to be strong. The raven-haired boy would have to wait until he got them both to safety before he could breakdown and cry.

“I know,” Taeyong whispered, he smiled sadly when the net began moving upwards again, in a last-minute thought, the tangled red head unclasped the crimson red garnet choker from his neck and dropped it to the sea bed. He then took off a bracelet of the same design, dropping that through the net as well. “I don’t know how long it will take for me to get to you, it could be months, it could be a year, so I want you two to take these to keep you protected. Hyuck take the necklace and Jun take the bracelet, the charms I put on them should keep sea creatures away, but you need to be careful of people. Please, please do not go near the shore. Promise me.” The older redhead had to yell to make his voice reach the younger merboys now, he was a lot closer to the surface and running out of time to say goodbye.

“We promise. I’ll get us to Kun safely.” Renjun yelled back, the two merboys on the seafloor raced over to the jewellery Taeyong had dropped for them, Renjun immediately securing the bracelet to his right wrist and then helping Donghyuck to put on the choker.

“I’ll see you boys soon. Now go, hurry before the ships get here.” The elder merman watched as his family nodded and then scurried to swim away, the Green-tailed merboy grabbing onto Taeyong’s little brother’s arm and dragging him south. Taeyong looked up at the surface, it was now or never he presumed. The merboy took a deep inhale before starting to mumble in a chorus of Latin, recalling the words he had taught himself to be able to rid himself of his tail and gain legs instead. The redhead shut his eyes when he felt the spell starting to work, it wasn’t painful as such, just extremely uncomfortable for a few seconds until the transformation finished. Taeyong took a last breath before he was turned physically human, the male opened his eyes watching as ten meters became five, and five meters became fifty centimetres, until he was lifted out of the water and instantaneously very immobile due the gravity pulling his body downwards and making him weigh much more than he does underwater. The merman covered his eyes from the sudden brightness of the sunlight, wincing in pain as he tried to roll over onto his back, yet it only tightened the coils of the net around his now pale legs. He heard people talking and shuffling around on the decks of the boats, then he felt the net getting tugged and then loosened, over and over, tugging then loosening. He still hadn’t processed yet what was going on when he was lurched out of the net, causing a rather loud thud as he hit the deck. Taeyong didn’t make a sound, didn’t move an inch. He kept his eyes shut tight and dug his nails into the wood under him, he didn’t know what boat he was on, and if it was the hunter’s they might kill him, so he played it safe and just took deep breaths of air to calm himself down, he hoped the boys left, he prays they get to Australia safely and he wishes Kun will wait for him to come to them.

“Lee Taeyong, you’re safe now.” A sweet and calming voice called from in front of the merman. The redhead knew the voice, so he cracked an eye open, relaxing when he did indeed, see his American saviour smiling gently at him with a warm look in their eyes. Taeyong held back a sob, trying to push himself up onto his palms but was stopped when strong arms circled him and lifted him to the crouching human’s chest, while at the same time wrapping a blanket around the redhead’s bare body. The merman instantly wrapped his arms around the other, breathing in the scent he had missed so much.

“Thank you so much, I missed you, Johnny.”

* * *

Renjun and Donghyuck had been swimming nonstop for hours now, if he looked hard enough, the Chinese merboy could even see the red and orange hues on the surface from the sunset. The two merboys hadn’t let go of each other’s hand, even if their fingers would cramp up or their nails would accidentally dig a little too much into the other boy’s knuckles. The green-tailed merboy calculated how long it would take to get to his cousin, Kun. If they kept going at the rate they currently where, they could get there in just over twenty-seven hours, a bit over a day. Kun spent a vast majority of his time with legs, he hardly ever summoned back his green tail, the main reason being that Australians still weren’t used to merfolk, they knew of their existence, but merfolk live up in the northern hemisphere, there were no mermaids or mermen in, or anywhere near, Australia. At least, that’s what they thought. Kun is twenty-two, yet already was the head marine biologist in Rockhampton, and travels around the world to help with marine research, he also works part-time at the CQUniversity on the mainland, teaching biology to students. He was extremely wealthy and even owned a small island that he lived on, the island was 80 kilometres off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Great Barrier Reef. It is called Heron Island, quite self-explanatory as it is located in the Heron Reef, and it is exactly where the two merboys were heading.

“Jun… I’m tired, I’m hungry and the water is getting cold, please can we stop?” The red-tailed merboy whined, tugging on the older boy’s arm.  
“Hyuck, we have to keep going, we can’t stop until we get to Kun.” In truth, Renjun was also struggling to keep swimming. He was smaller and skinnier then Donghyuck, meaning the effects of no food and the cold were starting to get to him, but he couldn’t let it show, his friend needed him.

“Renjun, come on. There is no way we’re going to reach Australia without a break. We only just passed Taiwan, we still need to go around the Philippines and Papua New Guinea before even coming close to Kun.” The redhead argued back. “Let’s go to the surface, it’ll be warmer and there has to be tuna around, it’s the right season,” Donghyuck grumbled, quickly changing course and swimming upwards, catching the older off guard and dragging him along. Renjun sighed, if he really wanted to, he could easily fight against the redhead and continue along the seafloor, yet the younger boy had a compelling argument, at least his stomach thought so.

“Fine. But be careful of fishing boats, and how are we going to catch the tuna anyway. That’s if we find any.” The raven-haired boy mumbled, swimming along with the redhead instead of getting dragged.

“You seem to have forgotten that my family history literally consists of the best hunters in the ocean.” Donghyuck grinned, showing off his sharp teeth and curling the fingers on his free hand, displaying his long claw-like nails to prove his point. “Well, except for Taeyong, he was the first to take up charms and spells rather than hunting.”

“Yes, I know, Kun taught him most of those spells, Taeyong seems to take after my family more than yours.” Renjun chuckled, thinking back to when the older redhead would sneak into Kun’s cave to learn charms when he was supposed to be learning to hunt. Renjun himself didn’t know many spells, it was him and Kun as the only Chinese merfolk in the Japan Sea and the East China Sea, the rest stayed in the South China Sea, the raven-haired boy was never deemed old enough by Kun to learn charms, and before he could even become old enough, Kun had moved south, leaving him with no one to learn from except Taeyong, yet even Taeyong was sceptical to teach him as the redhead doubted his teaching skills heavily. Renjun could control a small mass of water and move currents if he concentrated hard enough, but it drained his energy too fast to be able to use it effectively. The merboys smiled when the water started heating up, feeling the relief in their muscles and bones. Up until midnight, the boys had indeed found a school of tuna, unbothered by fishermen and had a rather filling feast, they even found a small sandbank they could rest on for the rest of the night, even if it took quite a lot of persuading on Donghyuck’s part to make Renjun sleep on the surface for even just a few hours. It ended up taking two days and a half to reach the Barrier Reef, Renjun would have been mad, but he figured it really would have been impossible to make it in a day, he was just happy they made it, safe and healthy as he promised.

“You sure you know what island it is, I don’t suppose you realised just how many islands there are here?” Donghyuck mused as he twisted his head around to look at the different reef beds and little islands scattered about. The two were currently swimming with their heads above water, their tails slightly lapping the surface if lifted too high.

“Of course I know, in fact, I can see it. That one, over there.” Renjun pointed out in front of him, causing the redhead to squint to let his eyes focus.

“Nuh-uh, that has a resort on it, your lost, oh god you got us lost in Australia I can’t believe-”

“Oh shut up. I’m not lost, that is it. That’s his house Hyuck. It looks like a resort but that is what he lives in. Look, his boat is in the dock, he’s here! Quick come on!” The green-tailed merboy cheered in happiness, latching onto the red-tailed boy’s upper arm and speeding up. The boys made it to the shore of the island, dragging themselves up until only the fins on their tails were swaying in the little waves. Renjun closed his eyes and lifted his hand up, focusing on lifting a ball of water around the size of a human’s head out of the water. Donghyuck watched with wonder, he had seen the raven-haired boy do this before, but magic-users had always fascinated him. Renjun opened his eyes, which were glowing a soft green hue, as they always did when he was using charms, the raven-haired merboy concentrated on the glass panels of Kun’s home, drawing his arm back before hurling the water ball at the panels. Donghyuck cheered when he hit the target dead-on, the water exploding against the expanse of the glass walls, creating a loud splash that should surely catch his cousin’s attention.

“Who the fuck is on my island!” Renjun and Donghyuck perk up at the sound of a voice, they don’t recognise the language, but they knew that voice all too well.

“Qian Kun!” The green-tailed merboy happily called. There was a few seconds silence, a sound of something ceramic crashing and then-

“Huang Renjun!” Kun quickly came running out of the house, his eyes wide in shock at the sight of his cousins. “Lee Donghyuck!” The elder male ran down the beach and collapsed onto his knees in the sand, wrapping his arms around both the boy’s shoulders. “What are you doing here? Oh gosh, I missed you, where is Taeyong? Why isn’t he with you? Did you two come here by yourself? Why didn’t-”

“Kun, Kun!” Donghyuck yelped to shut the older up, huffing when the brunette sat back on his heels, letting the merboys breath. “Can we, you know, have some legs first? We’ll tell you everything once we’re inside, but it’s a really awful thing when you feel like a beached whale.” The redhead groaned, Renjun hummed in agreement, emphasising the statement by raising the bottom half of his tail and then letting it flop heavily back onto the sand. Kun looked perplexed for a moment like he wanted to ask more questions but eventually, he just nodded and turned to Donghyuck first.

“Lay down and stay still, it’s going to feel really weird, but you’ll be okay.” The brunette hummed, resting a hand on the red-tailed boy’s shoulder and rubbing comforting circles into it. Renjun watching his cousin intently as the elder’s eyes began to glow green, unlike Taeyong, Kun and Renjun didn’t have to say spells or charms out loud, as magic came naturally to them, it was in their blood, while Taeyong had to learn from scratch. The raven-haired boy’s attention was quickly diverted to his best friend when Donghyuck started whimpering and scrunching his face up.

“Kun, I thought you said it wouldn’t hurt him.” Renjun panicked, holding himself back from going to the redhead.

“It’s all right, it isn’t hurting him, but it isn’t a pleasant feeling either,” Kun spoke softly, a fond look in his eyes as he started finishing up the spell. When the green-tailed merboy looked back to his friend, his face quickly contorted into shock. Donghyuck was tan as a human, well he was already tan as a merboy, but his skin was glowing. His legs were long and toned, his nails were shorter and his hands looked a lot more dainty now that the webbing was gone, the green-tailed boy could see that his teeth had blunted down, although his canines still seemed rather pointy and when Donghyuck opened his eyes Renjun could have died on the spot. They were no longer a fiery ruby, but an alluring sharp hazel colour, the closest shade to red a human eye can get.

“Jesus. Christ.” The redhead wheezed, he groaned and turned his head to look over his shoulder, he was speechless, he never thought he would see himself with legs, yet here he was.

“Here, use this to cover yourself until we get inside.” Kun hummed, taking the thick cardigan he was wearing off and draping it over the youngest boy. When the brunette glanced back at his cousin, he noticed the merboy looking at his tail wistfully as if he was contemplating backing out. Kun reached out and brushed the matted raven hair out of the younger’s face, smiling gently when Renjun looked at him. “I missed you, Injun. I have so many things to teach you. But first, lay down for me, yeah?” The merboy’s emerald eyes shimmered a little at the thought of finally learning charms, it is what he has always wanted. Slowly Renjun lowers himself down and then rolls onto his back, looking up at his cousin. Kun takes his shirt off first and covers the merboy’s abdomen with it, he smiles at Renjun once again before finally repeating the spell.

“Remember to breathe Jun,” Donghyuck chuckles when he notices that his friend was holding his breath, the raven-haired boy listens and takes a few deep breaths. At first, Renjun felt a tingling sensation in his tail, but it quickly escalated to a more disturbing feeling, Kun was right it didn’t hurt, but he could feel his muscles and bones changing and growing. He could feel his scales expanding and moulding together to make new skin, then he felt the bone in his tail splitting in two to form legs, his lungs thinned out and the gills on his neck stuck together until they were gone. It kind of felt like he was suffocating, yet he was breathing, the effect of the change had made his head spin so much he didn’t notice Kun was done until the said male was shaking his shoulder gently and asking if he was okay.

“I-Is it do-done?” Renjun asked, still yet to open his eyes. He heard his cousin hum softly then Donghyuck’s voice.

“Wow, you’re pretty for a human male.” The redhead sniggered, immediately making the raven-haired boy open his eyes, he didn’t know if his friend was being sarcastic or not, and he would never forgive Kun if he made him an ugly human. Renjun sat up, and blinked at his new limbs, what was his friend talking about? He wiggled his toes, a confused scrunch of the face making Donghyuck laugh.

“I look the same? But with legs, I don’t understand?” The raven-haired boy mumbled, he had the same pale complexion, thin thighs and he just knew he was going to be the shortest of the three when they stood up.

“Come on, time to look in the mirror.” Kun grinned, standing up on his feet, Renjun managed to make it up on shaky legs, he pulled Kun’s shirt he was given over his head, pouting when it reached his mid-thighs, why was he always the small one? Donghyuck struggled a little more and needed assistance from Kun to get up. Slowly, the three males made it inside the house, and if the merboys weren’t so focused on not falling over, they would have spent hours admiring it, but that was for later. Kun took them to his walk-in wardrobe, at the end of the little room was a large full body mirror, which instantly the boys gawked at when they saw their new reflections. The eldest just pushed them closer to the mirror and began to look for clothes that the boys could comfortably wear.

“Woah,” Renjun whispered, his eyes were a dark captivating black, his neck was long and acted as a vector to draw people’s attention to his collar bones that stuck out nicely and broad shoulders. His hands were soft and even more delicate then Donghyuck’s, well everything about him seemed more delicate than the boy next to him. Kun looked at the boys staring at themselves in the mirror and chuckled, he got suitable clothes out for the both of them and handed them each a set. The two quickly changing into them, with some help from Kun when Renjun had put his shorts on backwards and Donghyuck had his shirt inside out. The eldest male then leads to two boys to the living room, leaving them to gawk over the size of it while he fetched them both a glass of water.

“Now, tell me everything,” Kun asked as soon as he had sat down next to them. The boys recounted the whole event, from when Taeyong had got caught to their journey to Australia. They explained that another boat had come to rescue Taeyong, but whether it succeeded or not, they didn’t know. Kun listened and decided that the best option was to do what Taeyong had told them, stay with Kun until the older merman comes to them. Kun had then started to tell them that, if the boys were going to stay here, they had to go to high school on the mainland and study. When the boys had protested and whined, Kun explained because they didn’t know how long it would take Taeyong, the boys had to learn how to be human, which meant spending time around them and participating in human activities. The rest of the day was spent with the boys getting used to their new bodies, learning the rules of humans and the eldest explained that, if a significant amount of water touched their legs, their tails would appear again. Kun also cast another spell to make the boys understand and speak English, which had confused Renjun, he didn’t think mer charms had anything to do with languages, to which Kun had replied “You have a lot to learn, Renjun.”

* * *

“I still can’t believe you’re making us do this,” Donghyuck whined, tugging on the too-tight collar of his uniform. Kun snickered at him as the three males climbed into the white Morningstar Bay Rover, Kun’s boat.

“I told you, people need to wear a uniform to school and to work, it’s a rule.” Kun hummed, giving the boys a waterproof blanket each to protect and cover their legs with.

“It’s a dumb rule. And why do I have to sit on the floor?” The redhead grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. The boat only had two seats, leaving the youngest of the three to the floor.

“Because you’re a child, grown-ups get privileges.” Renjun chuckled, looking back at his friend from the passenger seat.

“We’re the same age!” Donghyuck spluttered.

“So Kun, are you going to teach me how to drive this too?” Renjun questioned, ignoring his friend. The older male grinned at him, giving him a quick nod before starting the motor up after he had untied the boat from the small pier.

“Sure, if that is what you want.” Kun hummed, turning the boat around before driving forwards.

* * *

That day, Renjun and Donghyuck became the new students of high school, gaining a bit of attention for enrolling a third of the way through the year and being obviously foreign, not to mention Donghyuck’s fiery red hair. The two boys, unfortunately, stood out in the crowd quite a lot, the very thing Kun told them not to do, and it brought along a group of four year 11 students that crowded them and asked them questions left and right.

“Why is your hair red? That’s a fuckin wired colour to dye it, especially for a dude.”

“What’s with the bracelets and necklaces? Are you faggots or something?”

“Are those contacts or is it one of those chromosome mutations?”

“You’re really goddamn skinny buddy, do you eat?”

“Obviously you’re not really related, what’s the cover story for? Secretly dating? Its fine, gay marriage is legal here, so you don’t need to lie.”

“So Korean? You’re not gonna nuke us right? Ahaha”

“I thought they were Chinese??”

“Japanese you dronggos.”

“Oh they’re all the same, they all eat rice, don’t you? Hey, that must why you’re a walking stick, do you even get anything else or does king Jong uhn, or whatever, starve you?”  
Renjun and Donghyuck had no idea what to say, even with their newfound language skills, they were completely speechless. What the hell were they talking about? They didn’t know of land affairs, and what was a nuke? The eldest mer opened his mouth to speak but before he could, there was another student who seemed to come out of nowhere. A tall boy with platinum blonde hair and an angry frown on his face.

“How did all of you even get into this college without knowing basic geography?” The student walked up to the little crowd and squeezed his way between the mers and the other students, making the humans take an involuntary step back.

“Aw, Jeno it’s okay we aren’t hurting your Asian friends, we’re just curious.”

“Isn’t this supposed to be a ‘multi-cultural’ country? Isn’t that like the pride of this place? Because if you can’t handle Asians being here then why haven’t you gone back to Britain? Hate to break it to you, but you don’t belong on this land either.” The boy, Jeno, Renjun assumed, had his back to them, but he had straightened up and had his arms hovering slightly away from his sides as if to protect the mers.

“We were here long before you Asians.”

“But you see, there is a big difference. Our people came here willingly, on their own accord. Yours were criminals, shipped here because they were a waste of space in the prisons, they were worthless in their country’s eyes. And they are the ones who destroyed this land, and its people.” Renjun was amazed at watching this stranger stand up for them, that he hadn’t noticed Donghyuck trying to get his attention until the redhead had roughly tugged on his sleeve. Renjun watched the blonde boy for a few more seconds, he seemed to have a comeback for every argument these boys could throw. The raven-haired male finally turned to glace at his brother just as Donghyuck started gesturing at the opportunity to get the hell out of that situation, but Renjun wasn’t so keen, he wanted to know who this human was, and why he was helping them.

“At least we don’t pollute the entire sky like China-”

“Have you seen Sydney or Brisbane on a non-windy day? Don’t spit bullshit.” Jeno crossed his arms, glaring at the four students that for some reason were still trying to outwit him. The other boys finally shut up when an eighth student joined, taking their place next to Jeno.

“Don’t you people have classes to attend? What are you doing wasting your time here?” The four students looked like they wanted to protest, but they eventually gave up and turned away, rushing to their next classes.

“How come they always listen to you? I’m taller, stronger, scarier, what’s so great about Mark Lee?” Jeno complained, pouting at the new arrival.

“I’m in year 12, I’m older than them, it makes me more intimidating.” Renjun scrunched his face at the newest kid to join the group, he had short jet black hair that seemed to be styled in a small undercut? Renjun didn’t know, but his fringe looked choppy.

“Renjun come on,” Donghyuck whispered sharply, tugging at his friend’s arm once again. Although the action didn’t go unnoticed by the blonde boy.

“I’m sorry about those guys, them four are always looking for trouble. Are you guys all right?” Jeno questioned, tilting his head to the side. Renjun blinked, this human changed emotions faster than Donghyuck. Jeno smiled at Renjun when the blonde noticed his little dazed look, which only made Renjun spiral further, the human’s smile was breathtaking, how did his eyes upturn like that? And why was his heart rate picking up so fast?

“Yeah, we’re fine, couldn’t really understand them anyway,” Donghyuck grunted out, seeing as his brother didn’t seem too responsive at the moment.

“Well, my name is Jeno Lee. This is Mark Lee.” The blonde grinned as Mark gave a single wave and a quiet ‘sup’.

“I’m Lee Donghyuck-”

“He’s Donghyuck Lee. I’m Renjun Huang.” The older mer smiled politely back after coming back from his thoughts. He lightly nudged the redhead in the ribs, Kun had told them on multiple occasions that their surnames came last. The younger mer just scowled at him.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Would you like to come with us? We have a small group, but I think you two would fit in just fine.” Mark hummed, his smile growing when Renjun nodded at his offer. The unwanted attention had ended up bringing good things, in the form of five students who happily whisked Renjun and Donghyuck away and out of the spotlight. These five humans were foreigners themselves, who sat away from crowds during breaks and kept quiet during classes, yet when they were together, the group was incredibly lively, teasing and messing around with each other. The group consisted of, Mark Lee a year 12 student, Jeno Lee in year 11 along with Jaemin Na, then there was Chenle Zhong, a Chinese exchange student in year 10 and his host Jisung Park, in year 10 as well. The two mers settled in quickly with the group, and Renjun was still incredibly grateful for Jeno to have defended him and Donghyuck that day. Although they would never let their guard down completely, after all, if they weren’t careful, they could be found out. Friends or not, no one could know of the two’s real form.

* * *

Donghyuck sighed as he laid down with his head in Renjun’s lap, it was lunch break in school, the group of seven were sitting in a circle on the grass in the sun. The redhead took a hold of the raven-haired boy’s left wrist, examining the red garnet bracelet he wore. The older smiled sadly at him, he understood, he missed Taeyong too.

“Hey, you’ve both been here for a couple of months now, and we don’t actually know how you two know each other.” Jaemin hummed, suddenly turning the focus onto the two mers. “And you have matching jewellery, are you like… special friends?” The brunette tilted his head, genuinely curious. Renjun blushed a dark red and frantically shook his head, while Donghyuck sat up and created a little bit of distance between his friend.

“No, no, we’re just childhood friends!” Renjun coughed, smiling awkwardly.

“I thought you came from China though?” Chenle hummed.

“I, uh, moved to South Korea when I was young…” The raven-haired male answered, hoping his bluff was believable. Donghyuck caught Jeno and Mark sharing a suspicious look through the corner of his eye but chose to ignore it.

“So, what’s with the big choker? Friendship tokens?” Jisung spoke up, gesturing to the gold band resting snuggly around the redhead’s neck.

“Something like that,” Donghyuck shrugged, gently touching the garnet in the centre of the necklace.

“How are you even allowed to wear that anyway? I thought the dress code didn’t let you wear that much jewellery?” Mark questioned, taking a couple of chips from Jaemin’s salt and vinegar packet.

“My cousin persuaded the principle to let it slide.” Renjun chuckled, spinning around his emerald pendant in his fingers.

“I still can’t believe you’re related to Kun Qian. I remember a presentation he gave to my class in year 6 about marine life and occupations that involved the ocean.” Jeno sighed, taking some of Jaemin’s chips as well. The pink-haired boy didn’t pay any mind to his stolen food, he was used to this.

“Speaking of presentations, Jeno did you take any notes from last class? I wasn’t paying attention.” The raven-haired boy rubbed his arm sheepishly, giving the younger a smile. Jeno laughed and began opening his bag, getting out the correct book for the shorter.

“Hyuck-” Jaemin began.

“Don’t ask me, you think I was listening?” The redhead questioned, raising a brow at the younger.

“You’re all hopeless, how are you going to get jobs in the future?” Jisung mumbled shaking his head.

“That’s why they keep Jeno around, without him, they won’t know what class was about.” Chenle cackled, fake whispering to Jisung. Mark laughed hard enough for him to fall on his back, laying down on the grass trying to control his giggles to no avail. Jeno pouted, draping himself on the closed person to him, which happened to be Donghyuck.

“That’s not the only reason, right? You love me, right?” The platinum-haired boy frowned, showing puppy eyes to the younger.

“Get off me, you stink.” Donghyuck snickered while prying the older boy off him. The group teased each other some more before the bell went to get back to class, the seven stood up, packing up their things and getting rid of their rubbish.

“Hey, Injun, I’ll come by your dorm to collect the notes later okay?” Jeno called out to the older boy. Renjun just nodded and gave a thumbs-up as he continued in the direction of his next period. The high school had on grounds dorms, but not many students actually stayed there, most had apartments close by or lived with their parents still. Kun organised for Renjun and Donghyuck to share a dorm, as he wasn’t on the island often and he didn’t want the boys driving the boat to and from the mainland every day. The two mers didn’t mind that much, it took a bit of getting used to, but they go back to the island on holidays and some weekends. Renjun decided he should pay attention to the last two subjects of the day, seeing as he didn’t have anyone to ask notes from in these classes.

When the final bell had sounded, the raven-haired sighed in relief, picking up his utensils and waiting for the teacher’s dismissal before exiting the classroom and walking across the corridor to the in-school dorms. He looked out the window of the hallway and saw dark clouds forming overhead. He frowned and picked up his pace, wanting to get to his room before the downpour started, he pitied the outdoor sports teams that would still have to train in the poor weather conditions. Renjun successfully made it to his dorm before the rain, a sudden wave of exhaustion hitting him as he unlocked the front door. The mer stifled a yawn as he pushed the door open, stumbling inside. Donghyuck was in the small kitchen off to the right, standing over the stove, the younger turned when the door clicked shut, smiling lightly at the raven-haired boy.

“I’m making ramen, I’m sure you don’t mind.” The redhead grinned, turning his attention back to the saucepan.

“You’re a godsend,” Renjun mumbled, dumping his bags and walking to the two-seater couch, letting his body fall onto it when he was close enough.

“Are you not going to study? You have Jeno’s book, right?” The younger questioned, adding flavours to the noodles. Renjun groaned but got up, Jeno said he would come to collect the work, but he didn’t state when, so Donghyuck was right, he should get it over with now. The older grabbed his bags and took them to his room, the apartments were rather spacious for school dormitories, the first room was the living room, with an open kitchen in the right corner and the dining area next to that. The left side of the room had three doors, the first being Renjun’s, the second was the bathroom, which was also connected to the rooms by two more doors on the inside, and the last was Donghyuck’s.

“Call me when you finish dinner!” Renjun called, shutting his door and walking over to his desk, pulling out the books and stationary he needed. The raven-haired boy started with Jeno’s notes, reading them over a few times before copping them down in his own book, adding and tweaking some things as he did so. He researched some more on the topic and then started the five questions they were given as homework for that lesson. Once he finished that subject, he began the homework he received for other classes, deciding to do everything now that he was here. As he was finishing up on the last sentence of his geography work, there was a small knock on the door before Donghyuck peeked his head through the gap in the door.

“Dinner is ready, you comin’ out?” The redhead hummed, waiting for a response.

“Yeah, let me just… done.” Renjun grinned as he closed off the sentence he was writing and stood up, following Donghyuck to the dining table where the food had been placed out. The two mers happily talked about the parts of the day they weren’t together, explaining things that had happened in class and helping each other with some things they had trouble understanding. Renjun and Donghyuck talked for ages, the conversation straying from school work to their friends. The boys could talk about anything together, they never had secrets, which is why Renjun knew something was going on when he brought up when he witnessed Mark tripping up the stairs and instead of laughing, Donghyuck seemed concerned.

“Did he hurt himself? Did anyone else see?” The redhead asked, ceasing his hands from fiddling with the chopsticks in his empty bowl. The older male straightened up, giving his friend a look.

“From what I saw he was fine, but it was a crowded hallway, of course people saw.” Renjun shrugged, raising a brow. “Why do you care?”

“He’s our friend, why wouldn’t I care?” Donghyuck asked back.

“Well, if I said it was Chenle or Jaem I saw, you would have laughed. Is Mark special to you, perhaps?” The raven-haired male smirked, resting his head on his hand as he watched his friend’s reaction. The younger flushed a dark pink, avoiding eye contact with Renjun.

“It’s not like that, even if it was, it’s not like I could do anything about it,” Donghyuck mumbled, shuffling his feet under the table.

“Hm, what do you mean Hyuckie? Is Mark heterosexual?” Renjun tilted his head, curious.

“No! w-well I mean, I don’t know, it’s just, complicated…” The younger squirmed under the raven-haired boy’s gaze.

“If it makes you feel any better, I think I might feel the same towards Jeno, I don’t really know if it’s a crush or anything, just appreciation at this point.” The older shrugged, grinning when his friend looked at him surprised.

“Jeno? As in Jeno Lee?” He sounded baffled, Renjun just laughed. “Huh, well we’re both in the same boat, huh? Can’t wait to see how this ends.” Donghyuck sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“What do you mean Hyuckie?” The Chinese boy hummed softly in confusion.

“Well, we aren’t exactly human, aren’t we Renjun… we can’t be with them even if we really wanted to. We shouldn’t even be here, we shouldn’t have legs right now, let alone have feelings for humans…” The redhead male sighed once again, grabbing his dishes and getting up. Renjun was taken aback, he furrowed his brows but copied the younger male by taking his bowl and chopsticks up to the sink in the kitchen.

“And who says we can’t? If you like Mark, then go for it, you shouldn’t have anything to worry abo-”

“Actually, I do. I have so much to worry about.” Donghyuck whined, tugging at his hair in frustration. “What would happen if I sprout some fins in front of him? Mers are acknowledged, not accepted remember? What would he think of me? Huh? What if Taeyong comes back and I just leave him here? What kind of boyfriend would that make me? We don’t even know if he is into boys, let alone me.” The redhead mumbled, he has been getting more and more stressed every day with all these thoughts running through his mind. His emotions were piling on top of each other, he missed his brother more than anything in the world, but he knew he was getting attached to the land and to the people around him, he was in constant fear of water out in public, having to avoid it while also seeming like a normal human, not to mention the school  
work that kept piling up.

“I think you’re overthinking this, our friends aren’t monsters, they wouldn’t lock us up and do experiments on us. They’d be shocked, yes, but they would accept us, they would get used to it eventually.” Renjun hummed, trying to make eye contact.

“But they won’t have time to get used to it Injunnie… we aren’t staying here remember? We have to leave them at one point or another.” The redhead quietly spoke, trying his best not to sniffle when his voice made a small crack halfway through his sentence.

“Oh Hyuckie, come here.” The raven-haired shuffled over to his friend and wrapped him up in a hug. Renjun slowly rocked their bodies from side to side in silence, he felt the younger boy lean into his touch, almost putting all his body weight onto the shorter. The two boys stayed standing in the kitchen for a while, just holding each other in their arms, until Donghyuck excused himself and silently went to his room. Renjun knew it’d be best to leave him with his thoughts for a while, so he too retreated into his own room after cleaning up the dishes they had used.

Renjun laid on his bed staring at the ceiling, thinking of what the redhead had said. What would happen when the two left their friends, what would they tell them? With a sigh, the raven-haired boy checked the time on the digital clock on his bedside. Seeing it was nearly six-thirty, he assumed Jeno wasn’t coming, probably didn’t want to get caught in the rain. Renjun rolled off his bed and got clean sleepwear and his towel before entering the bathroom, he started up the bath and set his clothes on the counter. While waiting for the tub to fill up, he began his routine of brushing his teeth and cleansing his face. That same feeling of exhaustion from when he walked into the dorm hit him again, as he undressed himself and turned off the taps to the tub when it had filled up enough, Renjun quickly got into the water before his legs stuck together and scales grew from the skin, his fins falling out over the side of the tub. He was thankful for the fact that the process of changing from a human into a merman was much quicker and far less uncomfortable than turning from merman to human.

Jeno shook his hair free of water, his football coach had made the team train in the rain and he was positively drenched. He looked over his shoulder as he walked through the dorm block hallways, he was leaving a small trail of water it was dripping off him that much. The blonde shrugged, someone else would clean it up, he continued walking in a brisk pace, he needed his biology notes back if he wanted to pass that quiz they were going to have the next day. Jeno wondered if the others knew there was going to be a test, probably not. He chuckled to himself, already excited to see their reactions tomorrow in class, Jeno calmly walked up to his friend’s dorm door, lifting his hand to knock on it three times. There was a pause and then he heard the lock turn and the door open just a crack. The blonde saw the red hair before he saw a face and immediately grinned at the sight of it, although his expression soon changed when he saw Donghyuck had tired puffed up eyes and a red nose, had he been crying?

“Hyuckie? Are you all right?” Jeno questioned straight away, putting his hand on the door and gently pushing it open all the way. It looked like he had knocked just as Donghyuck was fixing himself a snack if the bowl of ice cream in his hand had anything to say about it.

“M’ fine, why’re you here?” Donghyuck grunted, Jeno’s eyes widened at the sound of his friend’s scratchy voice. He had definitely been crying.

“Uh, I wanted to collect my notes from Jun?” Jeno replied, he assumed whatever it was, the redhead didn’t want to share, so he left it. Donghyuck just pointed to the raven-haired boy’s room. Jeno gave a nod as a thank you and watched as Donghyuck shuffled back into his own room, stuffing his earbuds back in. Jeno frowned, he has never seen the other so gloomy, he brushed it off and closed the door behind him. Whatever it was, he could assume Renjun has already talked to him about it. With the shorter boy in mind, the blonde walked up to the other’s door and knocked, but he got no answer so he slowly opened the door, maybe he was already asleep and Jeno could just take the notes and go without waking him?

As he stepped into the room, he noticed three things. One, Renjun was not in there. Two, the bathroom door was left ajar, and he could hear the shorter humming a tune from inside. And three, his notes were right there on the desk. Jeno could just take them and go, simple as that. The blonde walked up to the desk and collected up the papers and sticky notes that were his, folding them up neatly and putting them in his bag, he looked over Renjun’s version of the notes, smiling at the neat handwriting and the little doodles of what looked like shells and seastars. He guessed he couldn’t just come and go without saying anything to the raven-haired boy, maybe he could scare him a little. Jeno grinned wickedly, placing his bag down beside the bed and stalking over to the bathroom door quietly, he listened to Renjun humming for a few seconds before he violently swung the door open and stepped inside.

Renjun hummed sadly as he looked at his emerald green tail, lifting the end of it so it curled over towards him. He missed the ocean, he missed South Korean waters, he missed Taeyong. With a shake of his head, the mer dismissed those thoughts, he couldn’t get too hung up on it. Taeyong was coming for them, he would see him soon enough. Instead the raven-haired boy began humming a song Mr and Mrs Lee used to sing to him and Donghyuck when they were only little guppies, he smiled fondly at the memory and lifted up one of his hands, thinking of nothing but the words of the song as he manipulated the water in the tub with just the flick of his hand. His eyes glowed bright green as he lifted a small sphere of water out of the bath and messed around with it, changing its shape into multiple different objects. Although, his peaceful moment was quickly shattered when the door to his bedroom burst open, followed by a loud scream by Renjun himself. Out of reflex, the mer launched the water he was controlling straight at the intruder. The person let out a choked off yell, and the familiar sound made Renjun look up and lock eyes with Jeno, who was frozen in place, standing by the door frame. Soaked and staring right at Renjun in pure fear, like it was Lucifer he was looking at and not his best friend.

“What happened!?” Donghyuck came bursting in right after at the sound of Renjun’s scream, eyes wide and earphones dangling from one ear. He quickly surveyed the situation and jumped into action. The redhead grabbed and threw a large towel over the older mer’s body and then ran at Jeno, tackling him back with so much force it sent the human, as well as himself, flying to the ground back into Renjun’s room. The two rolled when they hit the floor, Jeno yelping in pain as he had bashed his head harshly on the carpet. With Donghyuck’s natural instinct kicked in, he paid no mind to his friend’s pain and leapt up to close the bathroom door, wiping the few droplets from Jeno off of him before it could affect him, then quickly scrambling back over to the human and sitting on his stomach to keep him down.

“H-Hyuck-” Jeno wheezed out but was cut off by the absolutely livid boy above him.

“Shut up. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The redhead growled out, his eyes fierce as he kept his gaze connected with Jeno’s.

“I j-just wanted to sc-are him! I’m sorry I didn’t kn-know! I didn’t know!” the human pleaded, not even attempting to remove the younger boy off him, even if he was strong enough too, Donghyuck’s eyes looked like they had murder in them and Jeno really wasn’t into testing that.

“There is a reason you didn’t fucking know! Don’t you know what the meaning of privacy is!?” Donghyuck screamed, gripping onto the fabric of Jeno’s training gear and thrashing his movements, shaking the human from the strength he put behind his actions. At that moment, Renjun rushed out of the bathroom, fully clothed and sporting legs again.

“Donghyuck stop it!-”

“It’s not my fault I wasn’t expecting to see a fish!” Jeno yelled out, grabbing onto the redhead’s wrists to stop him. Renjun made a noise of surprise, a fish?

“A fish!? You bastard!” The youngest screeched, ripping his hands out of Jeno’s and landing a hard slap on the human’s cheek. Renjun yelped once again, Donghyuck was taking this way too far.

“Hyuckie stop it! Leave him alone!” The oldest grabbed a hold of his brother, but the younger didn’t budge. Renjun whined in desperation, clutching the boy’s shoulders and trying again to shove him off before taking a deep breath. The raven-haired boy closed his eyes and swiped his hand left swiftly, causing Donghyuck to let out a yell as he was forcefully dragged off of the human by Renjun’s magic. Kun had taught him so much with the time they had together, before school started and Kun had to leave on work trips. With the redhead out of the way, Renjun quickly slides to his knees by Jeno’s side, hesitantly reaching out to him but not quite touching him. “Jeno? Are you okay?”

“He called us fish!” The youngest yelled, coming down from his primal aggression but still pissed off. The redhead stayed in his place on the floor, knowing better than to rile up the older mer.

“He’s scared!” The raven-haired boy barked out, whipping his head around quickly. “And confused, and probably questioning a lot of his beliefs right now. You didn’t need to hurt him!” Renjun unconsciously covered the human with his body from Donghyuck’s gaze, almost protectively.

“I was protecting you!”

“I don’t want you to protect me! You might be strong but I’m so much more powerful. I could do way more damage than what you can do with just your hands.” Renjun spat out. “I don’t need your protection Donghyuck, but you obviously need mine. You can’t just lash out and do stupid shit like this! And I’m the one who always has to fix it!” The older boy seethed, annoyed with Donghyuck’s childishness. “Just because Taeyong is a hero doesn’t mean you need to try so hard to be one too. You are not Taeyong, you’re just a messy teenager!” The older boy huffed out. There was a short silence after the outburst until Donghyuck stood up and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut hard enough that the vibrations revibrated throughout the apartment. Renjun sighed, then turn turned his attention back to the human who was openly gaping at him, again. But this time there was no fear, just curiosity. “Are you okay?” The raven-haired male asked softly, his tone of voice changing significantly.

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t m-mean to call you a fish I just-” Jeno sputtered out, not really knowing what to do.

“Hey, it’s fine, I get it. You’re scared, and probably just wanted to get Donghyuck off you, really it’s okay.” Renjun sighed, he wasn’t particularly happy with being labelled a fish, but he wouldn’t take it out of hand like his brother.

“So… Mermen? Both of you?” Jeno rasped, watching as the mer kneeling next him nodded hesitantly and retracted his hands. Jeno shuffled and slowly sat up, rubbing his cheek a little as he huffed out a sigh, processing everything that just happened. “Does anyone else know?” A shake of the head. “Why…? Why wouldn’t you tell me- us, something like this?”

“You don’t exactly see merpeople flaunting their fins about in public, do you? There’s a reason. It’s why me and Hyuckie are here in the first place… look, we just, we’re not very welcomed. Our existence is known, obviously, but only because if we’re found out, we’re hunted. I don’t know what happens when they catch you, and I hope I never do.” Renjun looked up from the carpet, locking his eyes with Jeno’s, he took a deep breath and reached out for the human’s hand, gaining some confidence when Jeno didn’t flinch away. “Jeno… I need you to promise me, that you will not tell anyone about this, no one can know about me and Donghyuck. No one at school, outside of school, not Mark, Jaem or Jisung and Chenle. I’m begging you, please keep this to yourself.”

“But-” Jeno wanted to protest, he wanted the others to know, he felt like they deserved to know something like this, but he caught himself, who was he to say what Renjun could and couldn’t keep from people? Correcting his thought process, the human gently placed his other hand on top of the raven-haired boy’s, running his thumb over the older boy’s knuckles. “Okay… Okay, I can do that, you can trust me.”

“That’s the thing Jeno, I don’t know if I can. I need you to show me. Can you do that?” the raven-haired boy slowly took his hand away, leaning back for a breath of air. Jeno just looked at him, really looked. He searched the older boy’s sparkling dark eyes, recalling their green glow in the bathroom, he remembered how they lit up in appreciation and wonderment at their first meeting. He looked at the soft raven strands on the boy’s head, he had always loved the way Renjun would push his hair back and it would fall perfectly into place right after. The human trailed down to the mer’s nose, thinking of when Renjun would scrunch his face up in thought, a habit that would make his eyebrows furrow and his lips to purse. Jeno then turned his attention to the older boy’s mouth, his always soft-looking plush lips, that formed the most beautiful smile and the most endearing pout, his snaggletooth that only showed when the mer wore one of his most happiest smiles, when he was laughing like nothing else mattered in the world than that moment. The blonde male slowly tracked his eyes back up to Renjun’s eyes, he could feel his breath catching and his heart skip a beat, and he knew his answer.

“Yes. I would do anything for you, and I’m going to keep you and Donghyuck safe.” Jeno felt like he was in a trance, he always had an interest in the shorter male, but his sudden confidence to do something about it was a little overwhelming. Very slowly, the blonde raised one of his hands and cupped the side of Renjun’s face, stroking his cheek when the older male closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. “I promise you Injun.” The blonde whispered, his whole face heating up when Renjun placed his own hand on top of Jeno’s looking at him with the warmest expression. He knew, he would do anything for him.

“I’m sorry about the water ball,” The older suddenly laughed, breaking the tension in the room and causing the two to relax their bodies. The taller smiled brightly, his eyes turning upwards into crescents, at the sound of the other boy’s giggle. With his hand that was still on the mer’s face, Jeno pinched his cheek lightly, laughing with him.

“How can you even do that? Can Hyuck do it? Is it a universal mermaid thing to have like, water element powers? But you have telekinesis as well?” The human let go of the other’s cheek, running his hand through his own hair instead, to get the wet strands out of his face.

“Ah, you guys really don’t know anything about us huh?” Renjun laughed more, covering his mouth with his hand. Jeno may or may not have just fallen deeper in love with him. “But no, Donghyuck cant do that, we aren’t from the same region. I’m from China remember? That wasn’t a lie. I’m from the South China Sea, the merfolk there have a range of green tails, fins and eyes, and we have powers, or whatever it is you want to call them. I guess we can do most forms of manipulation- here, watch.” The raven-haired male straightened himself up, closed his eyes and raised his hands. The blonde tilted his head confused, until he saw a droplet of water floating up right in front of his face, and then another, and another.

Jeno watched in amazement as Renjun collected all of the water off of him, absorbing it from his clothes until they were dry, like the water sphere was never launched at him in the first place. The human glanced at the mer, and found his eyes now open, Jeno had to hold back a gasp at the sight. Renjun was completely immersed in what he was doing, his eyes glowing bright emerald. Jeno had seen it when he barged into the bathroom, but it was from further away and only for a second. Now he was close enough to see how there were different specks of light, how there were different hues of green, how the colours seemed to swirl around his pupils, how much he liked it better than his black eyes. This was beautiful, this was natural, this was Renjun.

“Jeno?” The younger boy blinked, bringing himself back, he focused his gaze back on the raven-haired boy, meeting his eyes. Jeno could have melted on the spot. With Renjun’s eyes on him, the gorgeous whirlpool of green light directed at him, the human could see the emotions mixing in with the colours, he saw the mer was worried? A little concerned and scared? But why? And Jeno realised, he hadn’t been breathing.

“Y-You’re stunning,” He suddenly huffed out, a little breathlessly. He immediately blushed dark red, surprised at his own lack of control over himself. Renjun blinked at him, shocked. That was unexpected. The older felt his face slowly heating up to match the human’s, but Jeno was looking at him with different eyes, and he reminded himself that he wasn’t Renjun to Jeno anymore, he was the merman, the creature with charms, he wasn’t Jeno’s high school best friend.

The raven-haired boy smiled shyly and stood up, the new sphere of water he had collected off of the blonde following him into the bathroom. Renjun placed the water into the bathtub and let it drain itself, the water from earlier Renjun had already cleaned up before he ran out to rescue Jeno from Donghyuck. The older male glanced at his brother’s room, a small frown taking over his face.

Jeno sighed to himself once Renjun had left the bedroom. He had to be so stupid and scare the shorter off. Renjun probably liked girls, hell, he probably preferred someone of his own species at the least. The platinum blonde ruffled his hair, dragging his hand down his face. He thought of everything that had just happened. It was all so unreal to him. Renjun and Donghyuck, his best friends for almost five months now, how did they keep this from everyone for so long? How was Jeno going to fix things with Donghyuck? How was Jeno even going to be able to keep this secret to himself? And… who the hell was Taeyong?

“So, this was one hell of a day.” Renjun had said once he came back into the bedroom, gently closing the door behind him and leaning on it timidly. The raven-haired boy kept his gaze on the ground, Jeno knew he had definitely done something wrong. There was a small silence as the blonde just stared at the older, why was Renjun suddenly so upset? Surely being called stunning wasn’t an insult to him.

“Do you want me to leave?” Jeno asked softly, he could pick up on social cues, and he was sure Renjun really wasn’t liking his presences right now. The older boy flinched, looking up a little shocked.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that I-” Flustered, the mer stumbled over his words, a little taken aback at Jeno’s assumption. The boy sighed and recollected himself. “Look, a lot has happened in, what? The past two hours? Anyway, I just think it would be good to give you time to soak all this in and come to terms with it. I’m sure this isn’t how you were expecting your day to go. So, if you have your notes, I would suggest you go home and rest Jeno.” Renjun walked over to the boy and hesitantly held his hand out, as the blonde was still seated on the floor. The younger boy took his hand and pulled himself up, and before Renjun could let go, Jeno pulled him into a hug.

“I’m sorry Renjun, I know this is a big deal for you and Donghyuck, and I’m sorry I can’t understand it quite yet, but I’m going to try my absolute hardest okay? I’m so sorry.” The taller mumbled, he held onto the shorter boy a little tighter and then let go, giving a sad smile and then grabbing his bag, swinging it over his shoulder and walking to the bedroom door. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder. “Goodnight Injun,”

“Goodnight Jeno…” And with that, Renjun watched as the blonde boy walked out, shutting the door. The raven-haired boy waited until he heard the apartment door close until he completely let go, sighing as he let all of the tension out of his body. Renjun rubbed his eyes when he felt them well up a bit, chuckling at himself. Is this what Donghyuck was talking about earlier? Why he was scared of his feelings for Mark? Renjun let himself collapse on his bed. He was starting to wish Taeyong would come soon. Where was he?

***

Over the course of the next week, Renjun had made up with Donghyuck, they had cried and apologised profusely, he told Donghyuck what he had told Jeno, and that they didn’t have to worry about him telling anyone. The redhead was sceptical, but he trusted Renjun, yet after Renjun had said that Jeno treated him differently, Donghyuck wasn’t as accepting. He never said anything directly, but he would give the human subtle glares when no one was looking. Renjun had distanced himself little by little from the platinum blonde, afraid to get closer, to have a taste what he could never get, he didn’t want to hurt himself like that, and he wasn’t about to hurt Jeno when he left him. The mers tried to keep their actions subtle, but although it was definitely noticed by Jeno, they hadn’t expected anyone else to pick up on it.

“Jeno. What did you do to Injun and Hyuck?” The platinum blonde glanced up from writing notes in his book to glance at his seatmate.

“What do you mean Jaem?” He mumbled back, quietly as to not disturb the class.

“What do you mean Jaem?” Jaemin scoffed and recited Jeno’s words in a mocking voice. “I mean, Renjun is avoiding you like the plague, Donghyuck looks like he’s ready to decapitate you every time you turn your back. What did you do to them?” The pink-haired boy questioned, leaning in closer to the blonde.

“I… I called Renjun stunning…” Jeno shrugged, he couldn’t think of anything else he had done to set Renjun off like that. Well, besides the whole finding out he was a MERMAN, but he couldn’t tell Jaemin that.

“You… what?” the younger sputtered, surprised.

“I called him stunning, and he just suddenly became… upset… I honestly don’t know what happened.” Jeno sighed, ruffling his hair a bit. Jaemin just looked on in amazement.

“Wait, Renjun huh?” The pink-haired boy grinned devilishly.

“Is that all you got from what I just said? Jaemin help me! What am I supposed to do?” Jeno whined, dropping his head on the table.

“I can talk to him if you like, don’t know how effective that’s going to be though.” The younger boy shrugged, patting his friend on the back. Jeno just groaned.

***

Jaemin took long strides up to his friendship group, grinning as he waved and greeted everyone there, he winked at Jeno and walked closer to Renjun, crouching down next to him with a soft smile.

“hey Injunie, can I please talk to you in private? It’s important.” The pink-haired boy hummed softly. Renjun glanced at him warily but nodded and stood up with him. Donghyuck began to get up but was stopped by the raven-haired male.

“It’s okay, we’ll be back soon.” Renjun hummed, ruffling the redhead’s hair affectionately before walking off with Jaemin. The tanned male sent a harsh questioning glare in Jeno’s direction, which the older tried to ignore. Jaemin slung his arm casually across the shorter boy’s shoulders, leading him to a deserted hallway.

“So, I’m just going to get straight into it. What is happening with you and Jeno? I’ve noticed you guys become strangely distant, not to mention the poisonous looks Hyuckie has been giving him. Of course, if it is something you don’t want me to know that’s fine, but I hate seeing my friends like this, I just want to fix it, if it is okay with you.” Jaemin smiled sweetly, fixing some strands of the raven hair atop the older male’s head. Renjun widened his eyes slightly, he didn’t know anyone else had noticed, does that mean they all saw through his façade?

“I…” The raven-haired male began, but he couldn’t find the words to explain himself. What kind of lies could he come up within five seconds?

“Listen Jun, like I said, if you don’t want to tell me its fine, I’m not going to make you. The reason I’m asking is because you and Jeno have both been really quiet lately, especially Jeno, he’s been so upset he couldn’t even focus on football training yesterday. I’m worried about him. And you, sure you can be quiet sometimes, but not this quiet. Usually, you smile and laugh along with the conversation, but you have been completely zoned out. And do I even need to elaborate on how Hyuck looks like he is ready to rip Jen to shreds any second?” The pink-haired boy tilted his head, he kept his voice calm and level, as to not stress the older boy out. He looked terrified as it is, Jaemin’s plan wasn’t to make it worse.

“Is- is it really that bad?” The shorter whimpered, he kept his head hung low. He didn’t mean for this to happen, he didn’t want to hurt Jeno, he didn’t want to disrupt his friend’s daily lives. And yet he has managed to do all of that. And even worse, people started to notice, and he is only going to be asked more and more questions. How was he supposed to answer them? Donghyuck was right, he has gone too deep into this and now he is screwing it all up. The taller boy noticed the other start to breath heavier and the tension in his figure grow. Panicked, Jaemin crouched down to see the raven-haired boy’s face and put his hands gently on his shoulders.

“Hey, hey, hey. Look at me, it’s okay Injunie, please calm down.” Jaemin hushed the older gently, smiling softly at him. “You know me, I’m a little too observant for my own good, these things don’t go past me. Please, if it is affecting you this much, tell me what’s wrong? I don’t want to see you guys like this, please Injun, I’m here to help.” The taller male rubbed Renjun’s arms gently, trying to comfort him. When the older finally looked up, he had calmed down a little, but he still seemed shaken up.

“Jaemin,” The raven-haired choked out. “What have I done?” The taller boy was internally freaking out, was Renjun going to cry? The pink-haired boy didn’t know it was THAT bad.

“What? What’s wrong? What happened Jun?” Jaemin asked, trying to ease it out of the older boy.

“Jeno he- I…” Renjun frowned, taking a deep breath in to steady his voice. “I’m afraid, to get too close… I like him Jaemin, but, I never expected him to return the feelings, and now I don’t know what to do and I’m scared, what if he doesn’t really like me? And just sees me as something to show off? What if he is confused and he only likes me as a friend? What if I have to leave and I leave him here? Or if he sees something in me that he doesn’t like? And he leaves me… I’m just, confused, and scared… I’ve never been in a relationship before, especially with a hu, uh, boy.” The older male shrugged, closing in on himself a little, he isn’t used to opening up to people that aren’t Donghyuck, Kun or Taeyong. It was strange for him to see Jaemin looking at him with sympathetic eyes.

“Aw Injun, this is all about a crush?” The pink-haired boy cooed, smiling sweetly. “You don’t need to be afraid of Jeno, trust me. He doesn’t get crushes often, but when he does he means it Jun. Please don’t overthink the situation too much, you know Jeno, he wouldn’t use you.” Jaemin hummed, running his hand through Renjun’s hair. The shorter male still looked uncertain, so the  
younger lifted the other boy’s head to meet his gaze, eyes now serious and expression pleading. 

“Renjun, I think you need to talk this out with Jeno. It’s affecting you both so much, and soon it is going to affect the rest of the boys. Please, if not for me then for yourself, you don’t have to date him if you don’t want to, but just sort this situation out, so you can both stop walking around like the world has ended.” The taller male sighed in relief when the older slowly nodded. 

“Thank you, now let’s go back, I’m starving.”

The two boys began to walk back to their friends, a comfortable silence around them. Until Renjun spoke up. “Hey Jaemin? I’m sorry for being so childish, I didn’t mean for it to go this far… I just- thank you, for wanting to help.” Renjun quietly muttered, fiddling with his hands. The taller male smiled softly, swinging his arm around the raven-haired male and pulling him close.

***

“Hey Hyuckie?” Renjun called out to the redhead that was ungraciously sprawled out across the couch.

“Yeah?” The younger replied, lifting his head to be able to see his brother.

“I’m going out for a sec, what do you want for dinner? I’ll buy something while I’m out.” The raven-haired male hummed as he shrugged on his jacket, checking his pockets for his phone wallet and keys.

“Is dominos open? Get us some pizza, your choice.” Donghyuck yawned, rolling until he fell from the couch onto the ground with a thump. Renjun made a noise of agreement and left the dorm, shutting the door behind him. The raven-haired boy stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to walk down the hall, losing himself in his thoughts as he embraced the silence of the empty hallways. Jeno had briefly caught him along on the way to class earlier in the day and had hurriedly asked Renjun if he could talk to him after his football practice at the school’s football field, the elder boy agreed and watched as the platinum blonde boy sprinted down the halls to his class. The raven-haired male sighed, he knew he would eventually have to talk to him, it's not like Jeno even knew why he was suddenly being ignored. Renjun walks out the front door of the dormitory building and down the footpath to the gates of the campus, he decided he was going to order the pizzas, then go find Jeno, that way when they were finished he could pick up the food and go straight back to his brother. With that thought in mind, the raven-haired boy quickly crosses the road that was clear of cars and headed straight to the dominos across the road from the school. Pushing open the door, Renjun peeked inside and smiled politely when he made eye contact with the worker behind the counter, he walked inside, mentally preparing his order in his head before greeting the woman and relaying the order to her. He paid the woman and waited for his change before thanking her and leaving the small pizza place. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Renjun reached the gutter and glanced both ways before deeming it safe to cross. What was he going to say to Jeno? God did he wish that none of this mess happened, he didn’t even know if Taeyong was alive, what if he had to live with this life forever? How was he going to keep his tail a secret, he already blew it once. The raven-haired male quickly wiped a teardrop that ran down his cheek, he didn’t even notice he had started crying. Then he felt another drop on his hand, and leg, and then forehead. Quickly, Renjun focused on the tar road and noticed little spots suddenly becoming dark where water had hit.

“No… no, no, no. Not now, fuck, fuck.” Panicked, The merboy started running, he frantically glanced around and saw a sheltered bus stop, changing his direction and sprinting to the covered area. Once he reached the bus stop, Renjun hurriedly wiped off all the tiny drops of rain off of his skin in a rush, retreating to the driest corner of the small bus stop. The Chinese boy shuffled around to find his phone, checking every pocket before letting out a yell of distress, of course, he had to leave it back at the dorm. Renjun tugged at his hair in anger, he should have checked he had everything, he should have checked the weather for god’s sake. What was he going to do?

Jeno sighed as he stood in the middle of the football field, holding his umbrella up to shelter him from the light drizzle. He had a feeling Renjun wouldn’t show up, practice had ended nearly half an hour ago, and the shorter boy was still nowhere to be seen. The platinum blonde took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, he was upset, but what could he do about it? If Renjun never wanted to talk to him again then Jeno couldn’t do anything but accept his wishes. Just as the male picked up his bag to leave, he felt his phone start buzzing in his pocket, he shuffled around to retrieve it and glanced at the caller ID just as he swiped answer.

“Hyuck?” Jeno mumbled, he thought the boy hated him currently.

“Yeah, is Renjun with you? Can you put him on the phone? I’m hungry.” The redhead grumbled irritated.

“Uh, sorry to say but no… Renjun never showed up, isn’t he with you?”

“What?” Donghyuck tone seemed to take on a stressed tone. “He left ages ago to see you! Jeno if he’s caught in the rain he’ll-”

“I know, I know. Hang on I’m going to find him, anywhere he could have gone?” Jeno knew he shouldn’t jump to conclusions but he had a horrible feeling in his gut, if Renjun got wet by the rain there is no telling what could happen if the wrong person finds him.

“Um, he was getting pizza? Wait for me I’m coming with you-”

“No Hyuck, if you get caught in the rain as well then that’s double the problem, I will find him okay? Just hang in there, I’m going to hang up okay? Just stay right there, please Donghyuck.” Jeno breathed, he had already started speed walking off the field to the front gate of the school, he was praying to God that Renjun was inside the pizza place.

“Please find him Jeno, please, please, please,” Donghyuck begged, panic and destress flooding his voice.

“I will, trust me on this.” With that, Jeno hung up and shoved his phone back into his pocket and began running full speed, it was hard when holding an umbrella and avoiding puddles but the platinum blonde was not going to let it slow him down, he had to find the older mer. Once he reached the front gate of the school, he quickly scanned the area that was visible to him. He could see the dominos and there was no one inside except people behind the counter, which only made him more panicked. “Renjun!” He called out, it was a weak plan but he surely had to be around somewhere. “Renjun!!”

“Jeno?” The blonde’s ears pricked up at the small voice, quickly walking in the direction of the noise Jeno called again.

“Renjun? Junie where are you?”

“T-The bus stop!” The voice called. That was definitely the older male, Jeno focused in on the stop a few meters away and sure enough, he could see feet just under the wall. Quickly jogging over, Jeno yelped in relief when he finally saw the other was completely fine and scaleless.

“Oh my god, I was so worried.” The taller boy put his umbrella down and leaned it against the wall, quickly hugging the raven-haired male in front of him. He secretly smiled when Renjun hugged him back just as hard.

“H-How did you know I was h-here?” the smaller mumbled, he was quite shaken up about being stranded on the street for an extended period of time, he had been filling his head with all the possible worst situations that could happen.

“I was waiting at the football fields and Donghyuck called me, he thought you were still with me, and I thought you were with him.” Jeno pulled back and held the older boy’s head gently in his hands, tilting it up to look at him. “I was so god damn worried about you, are you alright? Did you get water on you?” Renjun blushed at the close proximity and the absolute sincerity in the taller’s words. He really cared.

“Not enough to make me turn, I-I’m fine, just cold…” The raven-haired male stuttered out, crossing his arms close to himself to prove his statement. He glanced up at Jeno, biting his lip, should he just explain himself now? Jeno was here, they were alone, he may as well. “Jeno, I’m sorry, I’m so so fucking sorry, I know you’re probably so confused and you have every right to be mad at me. I ignored you and completely shut you out-”

“Jun-”

“and never told you why and-”

“Renjun!” Jeno interrupted, it took a few seconds, but when the older had calmed down and looked at him hesitantly, the younger male softly brushed Renjun’s fridge away from his forehead and boldly placed a small kiss on his forehead. Jaemin may or may not have told him about Renjun possibly liking him back, and he decided he was going to find out. Shocked, the shorter boy jerked back but didn’t go far as he was already leaning against the bus stop wall. His face flushed bright red as he just stared gobsmacked at the boy in front of him. “Listen to me Jun, I am not mad at you and I don’t blame you for being afraid. I know this must be such a big deal for you, having someone know your secret is terrifying, especially when it is as critical as yours. I know that if the wrong person was to find out it could be life-threatening, I do not think you are being irrational and I don’t want you to think that you have done anything wrong. This is your life we’re talking about, and to have passed that into my hands unintentionally must be petrifying. I'm not going to stand here and say I completely understand your situation, because I don’t. But I'm willing to learn, I want you to know that I'm here for you, that I'm ready to hold your hand through this and protect you AND Donghyuck.”

“…Why Jeno? Why aren’t you screaming at me? Calling me a freak or reporting me?” Renjun mumbled, he was close to tears from the taller male’s speech, but he was so confused internally, all his emotions were mixing and he didn’t want to give himself false hope. Jeno sighed, putting his hands on Renjun shoulders and looking him in the eyes sternly.

“Renjun, I love you, you’re my friend and I care about you so much, you’re one of my brothers and I would do anything for you, and you’re the only boy in the world in the world that has made me feel the way I do about you. I'm crazy for you, head over heels. I love you Renjun, and I can almost say I'm in love with you.” The younger boy took a deep breath, confessing was not on his speech list but if it was going to make Renjun trust him he would tell him every day.

“J-Jeno I,” Renjun broke down in sobs, throwing himself at the taller male, winding his arms around Jeno’s neck and holding on tightly.

“Hey, hey, shhh,” The platinum blonde mumbled, rubbing a hand comfortingly up and down the smaller’s back, while his free hand was wrapped securely around Renjun’s shoulder blades. “I’m here for you remember? I’ve got you Jun, you’re okay-”

“Shut up, I just,” This time it was the younger that was interrupted, as Renjun tangled his fingers through Jeno’s blonde hair and rested their foreheads together. “I like you too Jeno, so much. That’s why I'm so mad at myself, because I was pushing away someone who meant so much to me. I was just so scared that you thought of me differently, that I wasn’t just plain old Renjun anymore to you, that I was now the merman, the half-fish half-human.” The raven-haired boy rambled off, squeezing his eyes shut so no tears could escape, he wasn’t even upset, just so overwhelmed with emotion. Jeno looked on with fondness, slowly raising his hands up to cup the older boy’s cheeks. Renjun slowly opens his eyes at the contact, connecting their eyes, he let out a soft breath and smiled softly, the taller boy returning the smile. The moment was suddenly cut off by a loud ringing coming from Jeno’s pocket. Sighing, the blonde took a step back and grabbed out his phone to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Don’t ‘hello?’ me, where is my brother? Have you found him? The rain still hasn’t-”

“Yes, yes, I’m with Renjun right now, he’s fine. He found refuge under a bus stop when the rain started. Here, I’ll give him the phone.” Jeno laughed softly, handing the shorter boy the phone.

“Hey Hyuck, you okay?” Renjun hummed into the phone gently, although he never took his eyes off the platinum blonde in front of him.

“What? Are YOU okay? I was scared shitless Jun! I thought you might have turned in the middle of the road!” Donghyuck screamed through the phone.

“I’m sorry Hyuckie, but I'm fine, promise. Thank you for worrying about me and thank you for not coming out here yourself to find me. I'm sorry to have made you worry, but I'm with Jeno now, everything is fine.” The older mer smiled softly at the taller male standing in front of him, reaching out and tracing the boy’s face with his fingers as he talked to his brother.

“…Everything?” Came the hesitant reply.

“Yes, everything is fine now. We are safe with Jeno okay?” Renjun waited for a sound of approval from Donghyuck before continuing. “Can you call the rest of the boys over to ours, I’m going to get the pizzas and we can have a little party back home.”

“Okay, I trust you. Be safe please, it's still raining pretty bad, I’ll call the others. Bye Jun, see you soon.”

“Bye Hyuck, I love you.” The raven-haired boy spoke softly.

“I love you too, Renjun.” With that, the older male hung up and held out the phone to its original owner. Jeno took it and slipped it back in his pocket, picking up his umbrella.

“Party at yours I hear?” The platinum blonde hummed with a smile. Renjun nodded, glancing at the rain that was still bucketing down. Jeno noticed the worry in the older male’s eyes, so once he had opened up the umbrella and raised it over his head, he slipped his arm around the raven-haired boy’s waist, pulling him flush against his side. “I’ve got you, you’ll be fine.” Jeno reminded the shorter, pressing his face into Renjun’s hair, breathing in his scent and giving a quick kiss to his head. The raven-haired boy giggled and leaned in closer to the taller, the two of them beginning to walk towards the Domino’s.

***

“So, you two fixed everything hm?” Mark questioned, leaning against the wall with Jeno by his side as they watched the other five boys fighting over slices of pizza and who gets the next turn playing Mario Cart.

“Yeah, we’re fine now.” Jeno grinned happily, his eyes forming little crescents as he took a quick sip of his drink. Mark eyed him, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“So… are you two a thing now then?” The older hummed, raising one of his eyebrows. Jeno coughed on his drink, clearing his throat as an obvious blush formed on his cheeks.

“I-I never asked, uh, so no, I don’t think so,” Jeno mumbled out with an awkward chuckled on the end. Mark just hummed and looked over to the boy in question, seeing Renjun happily sitting to the side as he watched Jaemin and Donghyuck fumbling over each other, fighting for the Wii remote.

“Now’s your chance.” Mark grinned, pushing himself off the wall and walking over to where the redhead and pink-haired boys were still yelling at each other. Jeno glanced over to the older mer, his thoughts running a mile a minute. Eventually, the platinum blonde became to walk over to the raven-haired boy, fighting down his nerves as he walked over.

“Hey Junnie?” The taller called, Renjun took his attention of his friends and faced the taller boy, his smile getting even bigger when he saw Jeno.

“What’s up, Nono?” The shorter giggled, reaching out to hold onto Jeno’s hand once he was close enough.

“I-I wanted to ask you something…” The blonde mumbled out, ducking his head in embarrassment. Renjun perked up in interest, he already had an idea, but he would let Jeno finish. “Um, will you be my boyfriend?” The younger boy blurted out, his face burning. The shorter boy laughed happily, getting up and pulling Jeno into a hug.

“Of course I will, you don’t need to be shy.” Renjun hummed, pulling back and pecking Jeno on the forehead. The blonde giggled, a bright smile on his face as he pulled the older into another hug, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy’s waist and lifting him up. The both of them laughing in their own little world, not paying mind to their friends knowing looks directed at them. Donghyuck smiled softly to himself, glancing up at Mark, only to find the older already looking at him, a soft look in his eyes. Maybe things really would be okay, he thought.

“Hey! You two should kiss!” Came a screech from Chenle, causing Jeno to burn even redder than he was before, Renjun to yell at the younger Chinese male and the rest of the boys to laugh and cackle at the banter, Donghyuck took a deep breath before letting out a light chuckle. Yeah, things were going to be just fine.


End file.
